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Tuntland Calls Defendant Wahlin

November 9, 2010

Long's
attorney, Tom Tuntland, questioned WSI's Chief of Injury Services Tim
Wahlin. Wahlin was staff counsel in the
legal department when he worked with Long.
Wahlin had investigated a complaint by Tim Hutchings and Sonja Nallie
that Long had tape recorded their pre-investigation notifications regarding a
sexual harassment complaint. They were
the only two who were recorded and they were the only two African-Americans at
WSI. Wahlin said WSI had tried to go
externally to The Village for investigators but they were understaffed so
Wahlin was assigned to the investigation.
Either Bjornson or Halvorson had assigned him to investigate and he
reported to them. He had not found
evidence of racial discrimination in Long's actions. Wahlin said that Hutchings had a volatile
personality and that Long explained that he recorded him because he was
concerned based on prior experience with Hutchings and thought that something
might be said that would be denied later.
Wahlin acknowledged that one party tape recording is legal in the state
of North Dakota.

Wahlin
witnessed a meeting on August 31, 2007 between Halvorson and Long where
Halvorson was upset about the recording and that Jim's explanation as to why he
had recorded was consistent with what he had been told. Long stated at that time that he was being
retaliated against and said at that point he had whistleblower protection. Halvorson told Long there was a process to
file a grievance and told him there would be no more tape recording and Long
acknowledged that he would not.

Wahlin
said he'd been on a hunting trip by Fort
Rice when he got a call
from Rob Forward that a search warrant had been executed for Armstrong's
office. This was about the time charges
against Blunt were dropped and Blunt returned to WSI. Wahlin was aware that Long filed a request
for whistleblower protection, but did not know that Long had talked with Quinn
at BCI before the search warrant was executed.
Wahlin said that Long had filed for protection on August 31, 2007. Tuntland corrected him and said, no that was
a different kind of whistleblower protection.
Wahlin replied that was when he told us he had whistleblower protection,
but there was a couple of different types he had I think.

Tuntlant
established that Wahlin had been asked to follow up on statements Long had sent
in his complaint to Attorney General Stenehjem.
This was close to October 30, 2007 and it was in reference to a meeting
Long and Tuntland were having with BCI's Quinn.
Wahlin said either Bjornson or Halvorson had asked him to do that follow
up. He further established that in the
memo sent to Stenehjem, Long addressed what he thought was Blunt and Halvorson
giving improper access to Spencer of protected information from WSI and that
Wahlin later put out a report on it addressed to Blunt and Halvorson. Wahlin acknowledged that a possible suspect
had assigned his own investigator and that the investigator reported back to
the possible suspects. Wahlin said at
the time the request came in they tried to move the investigation outside the
agency and that Rob Forward had contacted BCI, but was told by Quinn to go
ahead with our own investigation. Wahlin
said he was informed that Long and Tuntland were to meet with Quinn (law
enforcement).

Tuntland
established that Wahlin was trained as an attorney, but had no training in
retrieving computer data. It was
established that Long told Wahlin about Halvorson and Blunt getting data from
Spencer's computer to give to Spencer and that Long had told him that a
meta-data backup was available. Wahlin
said he was aware of that but did not know how that data was stored and he did
not ask Long how it might be.

Tuntland
then referred to an email from Wahlin to Tuntland saying that Long had made
allegations regarding the sharing of computer data that aided Spencer in making
grant applications but he had not been able to confirm or deny those
allegations. Wahlin said he had not gone
into Spencer's computer nor had he been able to secure that computer.

Wahlin
said he wanted to get documents from Long in reference to the violations that
were too numerous to mention that was in the AG memo. Wahlin and Forward set up a meeting with Long
about the matter. Long's attorney wished
to be present but had a meeting in Fargo
on that day. Wahlin and Forward refused
to change the date of the meeting, but agreed they would tape record the
meeting instead.

Tuntland: You sent me an email, we welcome your
presence but request you don't participate, correct?

Wahlin: Yes.

Tuntland: What good is a lawyer if the lawyer can't
advise his client?

Wahlin: I don't know, but we told you you could be
there.

Tuntland
read from the email, "Unless Long is able to cooperate and provide
information to support his allegations, I will conclude they are not
valid."

Tuntland: What information were you expecting him to
supply?

Wahlin: I have no idea.

Tuntland: You'd not checked out Spencer's computer at
WSI?

Wahlin: It was gone.
It had already gone to state surplus.

Tuntland: Did you ask for a backup?

Wahlin: Yes, but I was told that was essentially
impossible.

Wahlin
said that as Spencer had full access to full information at WSI, he could have
easily accessed the information before he left the organization. Wahlin asked Spencer where he was getting
data regarding grant writing. He said it
came from vendors. He did not ask
Spencer whether it was from WSI and confirmed had law enforcement been
conducting the investigation they could have had a search warrant for Spencer,
but he was not able to do so. During
Wahlin's interview with Long he said that Halvorson participated in getting
protected information to Spencer. Long
said he had been told this by Blunt.
Wahlin wrote in his report that whether Long believed this or not, these
allegations are unreasonably made.

Tuntland: If I see something and I report it, it's
unreasonable unless I'm the CEO?

Tuntland
established that Long told Wahlin to ask Assistant States Attorney Cynthia
Feland for a copy of the allegations he had given to her.

Tuntland: Anything wrong with Long letting law
enforcement decide whether those allegations would be released?

Wahlin: Yes.

Tuntland: Do you think Long should have given that
information to WSI knowing that information could be used by WSI to establish a
cover up?

Wahlin: Yes.
To the extent an employee will not share information, I cannot determine
the facts.

It was
established that Wahlin's report was sent to Halvorson and Blunt and that Blunt
had already returned to WSI as CEO.

Tuntland: You were giving the report to the person who
was suspected of wrongdoing?

Wahlin: It was required.

Wahlin
said he did not contact Feland to get the information because he was sure she
would not have given it to him as BCI's Quinn told him it was an open
investigation.

Tuntland
established that Wahlin had emailed Long's notice of suspension to Long on
November 15, 2007 after working hours to Long's email address at Rasmussen College.
That Long had been at work at WSI that day, but Wahlin had not talked
with him. Wahlin testified that
Halvorson and Blunt directed him to send the suspension letter. He said that Halvorson was still in charge of
the day to day operations, but Blunt had the ultimate veto as to Long's
suspension. Tuntland noted that the
suspension letter said that Long could not have any contact with vendors and
Wahlin confirmed that Blunt had not had those same conditions when he was
suspended. The letter also said WSI
would implement a plan when Long would be reintegrated into the organization,
but Wahlin confirmed that plan never got off the ground. Wahlin confirmed that Long asked why he was
suspended but that he did not answer that question and that Long wanted to go
back to work but was not afforded that opportunity.

Defense
attorney Mitch Armstrong then cross-examined Wahlin. It was established that following Blunt's
suspension, Jodi Bjornson was out of the building and Wahlin had assumed her
responsibilities. He said that Long told
him several reasons why Halvorson should not be the interim CEO and that Peltz
said that Long should be the interim CEO, that they had concerns regarding
nepotism. He said that the board
assigned him to investigate the issue of nepotism. It was established that there are exceptions
in North Dakota statute regarding
nepotism. One was older employees could
be grandfathered in. And the other was
when a critical and urgent agency need arose.
Wahlin believed that that cleared the way for Halvorson's
appointment.

Regarding
the tape recording of Hutchings and Nallie, Wahlin said that Halvorson believed
that by taping the only two African-Americans in the agency, it created
exposure and second he was upset that he didn't know the taping went on. He said that Halvorson was displeased by the
lack of consistency and that Long had tape recorded only two people and not
everyone. Wahlin said at this point Long
notified them that he had whistleblower protection.

Armstrong: As a result of Halvorson's reprimand for
taping, Long says he has whistleblower protection?

Wahlin: Yes.

Armstrong: Is there anything illegal about Halvorson
reprimanding Long for tape recording?

Wahlin: No.

Armstrong: Long could be reprimanded for that?

Wahlin: Yes.

Armstrong: Halvorson was not retaliating against Jim for
being involved in the investigation?

Wahlin: Correct.

Armstrong
then asked questions about Jim Long and Billie Peltz. Wahlin said that they were inappropriately
flirtatious, that it went on for in excess of a year. Armstrong established that Bjornson,
Halvorson, and Wahlin had met with Special Assistant Attorney General Tag
Anderson who was in charge of employment law.
They discussed Long's possible termination before Long had made his
request for whistleblower protection to the Attorney General and before Blunt
was reinstated. Wahlin testified that
Halvorson and Bjornson had concluded that Long needed to go. He said they met with Anderson because even though Long was an at
will employee, at will is trumped by state laws that prohibits firing people
for protected activities. For example,
you can't fire someone for being a minority.
He said Anderson
advised Halvorson to put together documents regarding problems and timelines
behind Long's termination.

Regarding
the search of Armstrong's office, Wahlin recalled that happened late afternoon
on a Friday and the following Monday Sandy Blunt returned to WSI. Shortly thereafter, he provided Wahlin with
his recreated notes about Long and Peltz' alleged inappropriate
relationship. Blunt asked him as staff
attorney to put the side file somewhere safe because the last one disappeared. Wahlin understood that this would be an open record,
that it was sent to Risk Management to become one of their files, and he knew
there would be requests for that document so he talked to Peltz because she
needed to know. When Peltz read Blunt's
recollection that Long had said Peltz had approached him about having a sexual
relationship, she said that little f-er.
Wahlin didn't know if she was talking about Blunt or Long. She couldn't believe he said that. She was crying, she's married, she has kids,
she's upset. Wahlin said it was obvious
to him she was talking about Long.

Regarding
Wahlin's report regarding the investigation of Long's whistleblower
allegations, Wahlin remembered Halvorson and Bjornson had assigned him and that
Rob Forward was assigned into looking into the search of Armstrong's office.

Armstrong
established that Wahlin and Forward had contacted Quinn at BCI to make sure it
was ok for them to investigate. They did
not wish to run afoul of BCI's criminal investigation and invited Quinn to sit
in on interviews if he chose. Quinn did
not attend the investigation meeting.

Wahlin
said the reason they didn't wait for Tuntland to be in town for their interview
with Long was if alleged activity was really going on, it was important to move
it forward. Wahlin said that Long's
allegations were more than a year old and stale and that's why they wanted Jim
to give them a hint as to the other violations that were too numerous to
mention. He testified that Kay
Grinsteinner had found no evidence that Spencer had been using illegal
information.

Regarding
the computer that was surplused, Wahlin testified that that happened while Long
knew about it and was head of Information Technology when the information could
have been retrieved.

Wahlin
said they first became aware of Long's 26 page manifesto after his attorney had
released it to the press. He testified
that besides the memo to the Attorney General and the manifesto, he had not
been provided with any other evidence of wrongdoing. He said that the allegations regarding
Spencer first came up October 20, 2007.
He testified that he found no merit to the accusation and therefore
delivered the report to the CEO and the interim CEO. Had he found differently, the report would
have gone to the board and would have to have gone to the Attorney
General. Wahlin concluded that Long was
raising the allegations to save his job.

Armstrong
asked Wahlin how it had come about that he sent Long's suspension letter to
Long's Rasmussen email address. Wahlin
said Long's WSI email was shut down and so he called Long and asked him where
he should send it to.

Wahlin
said he sent Long an email saying we would treat him similarly to the way Blunt
was treated. We provided him with
information from his computer and documents at no charge, but when his requests
got voluminous we said we would have to charge as there would be time for
research, redaction, and copying. He
said Blunt had not made similar requests.

Wahlin
said he did respond to Long's request for reinstatement in a December 4, 2007
email stating that as of this date a plan for reassignment was not
completed. Wahlin said that by January
or February of 2008, he thought Long would either say let's make this work or
he would try to destroy people and the organization. He said Long went tremendously worse.

After
Long had gone to the press with his accusations, Halvorson brought together the
executive team and asked whether there was any way they could work with
Long. The executive team unanimously
said, no way.

Wahlin
said there were shreds of accurate information in what Long told the press, but
they were surrounded by allegations.

Wahlin
testified that as he could not get into Spencer's personal home or computer, he
simply called Spencer and asked whether he had received the protected computer
data. Spencer said he had not.

Wahlin
said regarding Spencer's computer having been surplused, that's what happens
when computers are worn out, they're sold to the public or junked. Wahlin's report stated that even if Spencer
was employing the use of protected information, there was insufficient evidence
from which the organization could draw conclusions as to how the information
was acquired, and stated that he could have put it on a thumb drive while he
was still at WSI.

Wahlin
restated that he did not believe Cynthia Feland would turn over the manifesto
or any other information to him, that they did get the manifesto through the
press, but three years later WSI has never been supplied with any other
information from the States Attorney.

Long's
attorney Tuntland again questioned Wahlin regarding the meeting Halvorson and
Bjornson and Wahlin had with Anderson
at the Attorney General's office regarding termination of Long's
employment. Tuntland established Long
had filed his request for whistleblower protection with the Attorney General on
October 20, 2007, whereas that meeting had occurred November 7, 2007.

Tuntland
further established that Wahlin had gone through Long's computer even though he
was not suspended for fraternization or insubordination and was not suspected
of a crime. Blunt, on the other hand,
was suspected of misappropriation of funds, but Wahlin did not go through
Blunt's computer. Wahlin testified he
was not assigned to that role with Blunt, he was with Long.

Tuntland
asked Wahlin about the records retention law and established that generally
records are kept in electronic form and can be located. Tuntland stated the shortest period of time
those records would be kept was four years.
Wahlin said no, only 14 days.

Wahlin
said that Bjornson had told him of Long's reports of suspected wrongdoing at
least one time. He said Bjornson and
Long got along, that Bjornson was friendly, that Billie Peltz was particularly
outgoing and liked to kid around alot.

Tuntland: Long was fired not for what he did but for
what Billie did?

Wahlin: Your words, not mine.

Tuntland: Why was Jim suspended?

Wahlin: I have opinions. I was included in discussions with Halvorson
and Blunt about his history and his ability to get along. I have opinions, but it was their
decision.

Wahlin
stated that Blunt gave him the reconstructed document the day he was reinstated
or the day after. Tuntland asked how he
knew there would be open records requests for that document. Wahlin said they did have a request for the
records.

Tuntland: Was the request from a radio station or Steve
Cates?

Wahlin: A radio station.

Tuntland: How did they know about it?

Wahlin: I don't know.

Tuntland: It was in a candy drawer and nobody knew
about it?

Wahlin: Yes.

Tuntland: But as soon as Blunt returned to work you
knew there'd be a request?

Wahlin: Yes.

Tuntland
established that during a civil investigation an employer has the ability to
compel an employee to give information under the threat of firing, but that
information under the threat of firing is inadmissible in a criminal setting,
so a criminal investigator would not want to be present when there is compelled
statements.

Tuntland
said the complaint to the Attorney General brought up materials found in the
Armstrong journal and included a conspiracy to oust States Attorney Richard
Riha. Wahlin testified he did not
investigate that.

Tuntland: If you had a board of directors trying to
derail a criminal investigation, would that cause concern?

Wahlin: Not sure.

Tuntland: Didn't "got secret documents out"
cause you concern?

Wahlin: Not significant concern, no.

Tuntland: Did you have concerns about Armstrong's
responses to open record requests?

Wahlin: Mark was not a good record keeper. Did I have concerns? Sure.

He said
Armstrong's office was a disorganized mess and agreed that if Grinsteinner had
to investigate Armstrong's office, she'd have to go through alot.

Tuntland: If you were to investigate Armstrong's
office, where would you start?

Wahlin: With Mark.
I always start with the subject, only with Jim I started with others, so
that's not true.

Tuntland: You told the jury after a criminal
investigation a police report is turned over to the suspect.

Wahlin: Yes.

Tuntland: That's after a prosecution is called.

Wahlin: Yes.

Mitch
Armstrong then concluded his cross-examination saying that Long was an at will
employee, but established his suspension letter stated Long's effectiveness had
been compromised.

Tuntland
had the last word confirming that Long informed the Attorney General in his
whistleblower complaint that he thought his employment was coming to an end
because of his whistleblowing activities.

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About Me

Sue Wilson tells important stories which move politicians to act. She is the Emmy winning director of the media reform documentary "Broadcast Blues" and editor of SueWilsonReports.com.
Broadcast Blues sets its sights on media policy, and www.SueWilsonReports.com turns a critical eye on the media itself.
She recently formed an activist site, http://www.MediaActionCenter.net